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A Study Of Second-Year Non-English Majors' Learning Strategies In English Reading In Southwest University

Posted on:2008-10-20Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:F DingFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360215465964Subject:Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
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Since the 1970s, research interest in the field of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has shifted to students' learning, and the importance of learning strategies has been recognized. Even though some studies in this research field have provided many insights into students' language learning, no consistent picture has emerged. In addition, most prevailing assumptions about language learning have been derived primarily from research conducted in the West; it is felt that the study in a Chinese context might throw new light upon this area.The present thesis reports a study of second-year non-English majors' use of learning strategies in reading comprehension. This study directly addresses the questions as follows:1. What is the second-year non-English majors' present learning strategies use in reading?2. What are the relationships between the four categories of learning strategies (metacognitive, cognitive, social/affective and compensation) and English reading proficiency?3. Are there any differences between successful and unsuccessful readers in their use of language learning strategies?A revised learning strategies' questionnaire based on Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) of Oxford (1990) and one reading proficiency test quoted from CET Band 4 were applied in order to explore the questions aroused. 192 second-year non-English majors participated in this research. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 13.0) was used to analyze the data. Procedures as descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and t-test for independent samples are used in the study. The results got from this research are listed as follows:1. Students overall strategy use is only moderate. In addition, social/affective strategies are least used;2. Cognitive strategies and compensation strategies are significantly correlated with reading score; Metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies are not significantly correlated with reading score;3. There are significant differences between successful and unsuccessful readers in their use of cognitive strategies and compensation strategies. There are no significant differences in the use of the metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies among successful and unsuccessful readers.4. Statistical analysis also shows that successful readers use the four categories of strategies more frequently than the unsuccessful readers.Based on these findings, the implications on learning strategy instructions have been discussed and some suggestions on how to give effective language teaming strategy instructions have been provided. It is suggested that learning strategy instructions might include identifying students' current strategies, assessing their strategy needs, planning strategy instructions, directing teaching of strategies for different reading tasks, providing extensive opportunities to practice in using the strategies, evaluating strategy use, and helping students transfer strategies to new tasks. Owing to the validity of the self-designed questionnaire and the complexity of the study of learners, some remaining research problems have been pointed out at the final part of the thesis.
Keywords/Search Tags:English reading proficiency, learning strategies, cognitive strategies, metcognitive strategies, social/affective strategies, compensation strategies
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